Ultimate Field Guide to Wildlife Photography

Ultimate Field Guide to Wildlife Photography

16 Lessons | Duration : 7hour 51min

About this course
Sudhir has distilled his 23+ years of experience shooting in the wild in this single most comprehensive field guide for wildlife photography.
Through this tutorial, he has striven to cover every tiny detail pertaining to this genre of photography.

At the outset, he introduces the topic of wildlife photography and goes on to talk about the ideal equipment for wildlife photography.

There are several chapters dedicated to highlighting some of the best wildlife destinations in India and the opportunities present there to sight and shoot wildlife.

Sudhir places a lot of importance on subject knowledge in photography, more so wildlife photography. He has covered this subject in great detail and has talked about understanding animal behaviour and how to make use of this knowledge to get superlative shots. He emphasises how subject knowledge can help with pre visualisation – another vital concept in wildlife photography. Again, he drives home the point with numerous real-life examples.

Sudhir has dedicated several videos to illustrate the various challenges one may encounter while shooting during a safari and the ways in which to overcome these challenges. He also talks about the numerous accessories that help during safaris, some techniques and workarounds for shooting with long tele lens and many other tips and tricks to make the most of your safari experience.

Then there is also a whole set of videos where Sudhir has picked specific actions by the subjects and explained how to capture those flawlessly. In parallel these videos also deal with core technical aspects including shutter speed, focussing modes, auto focussing points in different cameras and so on. Composition is another topic he has dealt with in great depth.

He then covers the topics of post processing which is an integral part of digital photography and takes you through the various steps he follows to get back that life in the images.

Apart from the core photography aspects, Sudhir has covered numerous other topics including the ethical aspects of wildlife photography; equipment care and safety and healthcare during safaris; post processing and more.
Finally he has a few chapters which are dedicated to real life examples from the field.

Who should take this course
In a nutshell, this is the one course you need to sign up for if you are an aspiring wildlife photographer or for that matter even a fairly seasoned one, for there is so much to learn here for everyone.
This course will help you understand every aspect of wildlife photography no matter what equipment you have.

What you’ll learn
Once you complete the course, you will have a fair understanding on the below:

• The various parameters you will have to consider while buying a camera or lens for wildlife photography based on your budget. You will also know the various accessories needed for wildlife photography.
• You will know to choose the right wildlife destination to start your wildlife photography. You can identify the nearest wildlife sanctuary to your location along with the various safari options available. We will also look at how to go about booking your wildlife safari and also how you can decide which park to visit based on the species available.
• You will know all the favourite parks frequented by Sudhir and also the various species you get there along with helping you plan the safaris at those destinations.
• There are different ways in which you can go for your wildlife photography. We will explore all those options and help you decide which option suits you the best. This will also help you understand the various park timings for the safaris and also the concept of full day and half day safaris.
• If you want to be a better wildlife photographer, then you need to be a better naturalist. Once you complete the course, you will understand the 4 pillars of photography and the importance of knowing animal behavioural aspects. Subject knowledge is everything in photography and will help you predict, anticipate and plan your shots.
• Once you understand about the various behavioural aspects of the animals, we will take you through the concept of pre-visualisation, where you will be using that knowledge to make some awesome images.
• Every destination has some well-known location inside the park which is considered iconic. In this courser, we will explain the concept of signature shots at such locations and share some of the images to illustrate it. This will help you identify and plan your dream shots during your next visit to that destination.
• What is the concept of story-telling images ? Did you know that these are the kind of images with the potential to win many a competition? In this course we will delves deep into this with detailed information including behind-the-scenes planning to make such images.
• Your wildlife photography is completely dependent on how you manage yourself in the vehicle during the safari. Shooting technique is one of the most important factors in getting quality images. In this course, we will explore the various options and accessories used for wildlife photography when shooting from the safari vehicle. We will also talk about options of how you can get your vehicle modified for an optimal shooting experience.
• What is the best camera setting to have for wildlife photography? This is one of the most common questions asked. In this course, we will look at the best possible camera related setting which will give you good images in most of the situations.
• Once you learn all the core technical concepts of wildlife photography, you will then learn the heart of it – Composition. You will have a good idea on what kind of pleasing compositions works best and how to plan them.
• In this course we look at the ways in which you need to take care of your equipment and yourself during safaris.
• Wildlife photography is incomplete without giving them a good finishing touch. That’s where post processing comes into picture and you will learn the art of processing wildlife images.
• You will also be taken through some practical field examples which Sudhir came across during the shoot of this video and some from his past experience.
• Finally we discuss about the ethical aspects of wildlife photography.